


Paper

by 1980s_popito



Series: Penny and New Jersey [1]
Category: The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension (1984)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:01:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23775001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1980s_popito/pseuds/1980s_popito
Summary: Penny smiled and got up from her chair. She walked around to his side of the desk. He followed her with his eyes hesitantly, nervously. Once she reached him, she leaned down and gently kissed his cheek. When she pulled away, both of their cheeks were red, but neither mentioned it to the other. "I know it'll be great," she said. (Penny Priddy/New Jersey) *COMPLETE
Relationships: Penny Priddy/Sidney "New Jersey" Zweibel
Series: Penny and New Jersey [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1859488
Kudos: 2





	Paper

Sidney “New Jersey” Zweibel sat in his office hunched over his desk making the final touches on his latest research paper. He had been burning the candle at both ends for the past month working on his research and final paper for his findings. He written dozens, maybe even hundreds of papers and articles on his findings in the past- but this one was different. This one was going to be the featured cover article for a special edition of TIME Magazine. In preparation for a full magazine on the Banzai Institute and it’s head members that they were working on, they were doing a full magazine filled with articles on the scientific research and findings of those from the Institute.

Buckaroo had not wanted to be the face of the cover, seeing as he had signed an agreement saying that he would be the center for the second about the entire Institute. Rawhide refused to be on any magazine cover. Perfect Tommy had volunteered to be the cover, but Rawhide and Reno had quickly shut him down, saying he didn’t need any more of a swelled head, considering he was already having more than one article about his, his research, and his music in both of the issues. Reno was writing nearly all the articles and refused to be on the cover. Next up was Sidney, and before he had been able to refuse the offer, Buckaroo admitted how he thought it would be a great idea for their still newest member of the science and medical teams to be the cover.

So, that led to months of research and experimentation on his latest neuroscience theory on the emotions of people and how adrenaline might or might not affect them. It involved the “fight or flight” response, panic, anxiety, bravery, fear, courage, and anything else you could think of. It’d been his biggest study yet, so it was chosen for the issue. And now his final article paper on his study would be the main featured article of the magazine issue, and he was feeling the pressure of it.

And now there was only one week left before he needed to submit the article to the editors of the issue so it would be ready for it’s release in the upcoming spring.

Sidney didn’t know how long he’d been hiding away in his office like a hermit without leaving and still didn’t where there came a knock on his door. He looked up suddenly from the paper on his desk and looked up. “Yes?” he questioned.

“New Jersey?” a gentle feminine voice came through the oak door, “It’s Penny.”

After the big Lectroid Invasion in 1984, the first day that Sidney and Penny had set foot on the grounds of the Banzai Institute, the two had grown close. It probably helped that he had treated her injuries leftover from Lord John Whorfin- in the body of Dr. Emilio Lizardo- with help from John Bigbooté, John Gomez, and John O’Connor from that fateful day.

That day, Buckaroo and Penny had tried a relationship of their own. There had been a spark- both figuratively and literally- that first day. It was that spark that helped revive the twin of his then-deceased wife. They quickly realized it wouldn’t work out between them, that they both only thought of Peggy in their relationship; Penny compared herself to her seemingly perfect sister, while Buckaroo could only think of Peggy. They separated as friends, and eventually rejoined as brother and sister- in- law when Peggy had returned to the Institute, alive and well.

All that time, Penny and Sidney had formed a relationship. They confided in one another about anything and everything. They talked of love, life, and everything in between. He had opened her mind and taught her things she never thought she’d be able to. She had done the same for him. He showed her literature and science and history. She showed him how to live in a world not in a book but in the one around him. They had a trust in one another that neither had ever had in another human being.

So it was no surprise that it was she who had come to his door.

“Uh,” Sidney stuttered as he finished reading over a sentence, “Come on in.”

The heavy door opened and in walked Penny Priddy. She was wearing a pair of blue Banzai Institute sweatpants customary for Blue Blaze Irregulars, a yellow t shirt, and a gray unzipped hoodie. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she shuffled in, her canvas sneakers making soft brushing sounds as she did and shut the door behind her.

Sidney took off his glasses and set them down on his desk and dropped the pen in his hand on top of his pages. “Hi,” he greeted, letting out a breath, “What’re you doing here?”

Penny shrugged as she sat down in one of the chairs across from his desk. “It’s been a while since you’ve come out of here,” she answered simply, “Figured I’d come to see how you were doing.”

He leaned back in his chair, let out another sigh, and ran both his hands over the entirety of his face and let them stop so his fingers rested against his cheeks and jaw.

She let out a light chuckle. “That good, huh?”

“I don’t know how I’ll get this done for next Monday. I feel like it’ll never be ready.”

“How come?”

“I feel like the whole world is counting on me. Like I can’t screw this up. I feel like maybe I made a mistake somewhere in my experiments and I didn’t notice, and someone will come back and disprove me to the whole world.”

“You’ve never been disproved before?”

“Well, sure I have.”

“So, what’s the big deal if someone does it again?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Sidney sighed, covering his face with his hands once again, “For some reason, this time feels so different than the others.”

Penny was silent for a moment as she stared at her confidante. She saw his slumped shoulders. His body looked tired. Once he took his hands from his face, he let them fall to the arm rests of his chair limply and he stared off into the bundles of papers and books on his desk. “I know how you feel,” she said suddenly.

Sidney looked up in surprise. “You do?” he questioned.

She adjusted herself in her chair. “Sure, I do. Granted, I never had to write an article for a big magazine like you are, but in other ways. Like when I first got here, I tried to be like how everyone told me Peggy was. I felt like, because I’m her sister, I had this reputation to live up to. I didn’t know how cause I didn’t remember her. All I had to go off of was pictures and home videos and what people told me. I felt like I was being compared to her, and that if I wasn’t just like her, and if I screwed up-“ A light shrug. “Everyone would know and hate me for it.”

He looked down for a moment then back up at her. “I didn’t know that.”

“Most people don’t. The only person I ever told was Buckaroo, and that was only cause we decided that _us_ wouldn’t work out for that very reason.”

“You know, he never really compared you to Peggy.”

A small smile. “I know that. It was just hard to get past. You know?”

“Yeah.”

Penny let out a sigh of her own. “It’s not easy, living when you think others are going to compare you- or disprove you, in your case, I guess,” she stated, “But we can’t live our lives worrying about it. If we do, we’re not doing what we might think or know is right. We’re not living the way we ought to. We can’t live in a shadow of someone or something is.”

“I know,” Sidney admitted quietly. “Thanks, Penny.”

Penny smiled and got up from her chair. She walked around to his side of the desk. He followed her with his eyes hesitantly, nervously. Once she reached him, she leaned down and gently kissed his cheek. When she pulled away, both of their cheeks were red, but neither mentioned it to the other. “I know it’ll be great,” she said.

He watched her intently as she walked away from him and back to the door. Before she walked out, she turned around and said, “Make sure you leave this office. Maybe come down and get some food. We haven’t seen you in the cafeteria for the past three days.”

“It’s been that long?” he asked.

She nodded. “Mrs. Johnson’ll have your head if you don’t tonight.” And that was her final word before she walked out.


End file.
